I learned several good and helpful things from the awesome presenters, Gianfranco Grande and Emily Sajdak. Emily puts together a mean power point, and I was grateful for all her work. Gianfranco is a dynamic presenter, and I'm hopeful that there is much I can learn from him, and ways that I can grow in my understandings of the best ways a church can be used for the mission of God -- sharing love with the world.

The best thing I learned was this, which is a new way of thinking for many.

We are stewards of our church buildings for our community [and for the Mission of God].

I was thinking so hard during the training, I live tweeted it. This training was very worth my time, and I came away with many ideas. I learned new language to communicate with others a new way of thinking about who we are and what we do as church, and how our buildings matter to the places the reside. Our buildings, and how we steward them, matter to God. If we primary encounter God through people, and if we serve Jesus by offering clothing, drinks of water, food, and visits of prisoners (Matthew 25: 31-46), how does that change the ways we use our buildings?

Comment Below.
1. What barriers have you heard to this way of thinking?
2. How do you feel about this? Do you cringe thinking about using church this way? Why?
3. What possibilities and drawbacks do you see to this way of thinking?

So what happens when those who aren't a part of the church make a mess of things. Doesn't that disrespect God? What about the money the people in the church have spent to make our space worthy of the God who lives there?

Eric, thank you for being honest about what you're thinking. I think there are some valid things to think about here. If we open up our building, will we need to pay for cleaners? What boundaries will we need to have? How do we protect what we've worked hard to build? Which things honestly need protecting and which things can we be better at sharing? What really matters?

Let's not confuse God with us, though. Us feeling disrespected is not the same as us disrespecting God. The Jesus I read in the Bible was always centered on human beings, not on things or buildings. Jesus was clear that we respect God the most by caring for neighbor. God is pretty clear about that multiple times in the first part of the Bible, too.

In the end, will we be glad we had clean carpets, or that people knew the love of God through our church? If our church collapsed tomorrow, will keeping a pristine building have mattered at all? How about the people we brought into relationship with God? That will always matter more.

So, yes, things might get messed up, or broken. We might need to have clear boundaries for people. But God doesn't live in the altar, God lives in others, and they need to be our first priority.

Reply

Linda

4/27/2017 01:32:53 pm

Opening the building for others' use cannot be viewed as just a source of added income (rent). There needs to be a shift in how the congregation sees the line between what is "mine" and what belongs to the whole community because it is God's! If everything we have is a gift from God, then how might God use our building to minister to our whole community? I was part of a church where key leaders couldn't think beyond "rental income" and as soon as renters became inconvenient, they were kicked out. This leaves more of an impression than simply not being open in the first place!

Thanks, Linda! I agree. If groups are in the church, the church should view them as friends, partners, people to learn about and have relationships with. What if we were so radical as to define anyone in our building as a member? How would that change the way we think about who uses the space?

The church often gets in the most trouble when it lets anxiety about money take over being focused on the Mission of God to love, save, and bless the whole world.

Reply

Amands

4/28/2017 02:26:55 am

We've been working for years on just this idea. It started as utility share income and, over time, has become a growing ministry. Learning procedures, processes, and boundaries has certainly been bumpy but the relationships are so worth it! I would be happy to chat with folks about how we have been negotiating this shift!

Reply

Leave a Reply.

Author

Pastor Jess is all about sharing the life-saving love of Jesus with the world. How she does it is up to the Holy Spirit.